


Chataplexy

by Freedom_Shamrock



Series: BAMF Mari [7]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Accidental Bondage, F/M, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Still Ladybug Without the Suit, yo-yo tricks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-04-03 18:37:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14002113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freedom_Shamrock/pseuds/Freedom_Shamrock
Summary: Adrien would like a nap.  Or a one-way ticket to China.  This installment features a cameo by Bridgette and Adrien managing to hold back some inappropriate requests while utterly embarrassing himself with others.





	Chataplexy

**Author's Note:**

> Cataplexy - a sudden and transient episode of muscle weakness accompanied by full conscious awareness, typically triggered by emotions such as laughing, crying, or terror. Considered a sleep disorder and often a symptom of narcolepsy.
> 
> Thanks go to Tinaholic for suggesting that yo-yos need to make an appearance. I hope I did it justice.

After managing to survive the rest of weight lifting without managing to propose **or** proposition his sweet-sweet Princess, Adrien decided he really just needed to get home so he could find a way to recalibrate his brain. There would probably be some meditation or yoga in there somewhere. Or a lot of it. Possibly interspersed with googling neurologic diagnoses.

"Thanks for the great session," Kim said as he hefted his workout bag to his shoulder.  "And the entertainment." He snickered.

"Yeah, Yeah," Adrien muttered.  "I'm way behind on sleep. I'll be back to normal next time."

For some reason, this made Kim laugh harder.  "Sure, dude." He started out of the locker room.  "Oh, I've invited Mair-bear to join us Tuesday."

Adrien fumbled his phone, dropping it into his locker.  "Oh! Uh… great… that's excellent." He waited until the jock left before sinking to the bench with his head in his hands. While he wanted to assume he'd have his act together by next Tuesday, he was beginning to think he was stuck like this.  He wasn't sure how long he sat there before the chilly silence was broken.

"Hey Adrien?" Marinette called from out in the hall.  "You all right in there?"

"Yeah," he managed to reply.  More than anything, he wanted to curl up next to her, his head in her lap, her fingers in his hair. Okay, that was probably his inner cat, so it was totally Plagg's fault.  It was definitely not a normal thing to feel toward a friend. Yet it also felt oddly natural, which just made it harder to push it away.

"If you're ready to go, come on out," she called back after a moment.

He gathered his things, closed up his bag and went to join her before he realized what he was doing.  Whatever was going on was exhausting, even with Mari's help. He stopped in front of her, not quite daring to meet her eyes out of fear of spontaneous combustion.

"Hey," she said, her hand hovering into view as he gentle voice washed over him.  "I know this has been a weird rough day." Her fingers lightly brushed his forearm.  "But you've done great."

Relief and happiness welled up in his chest, intense enough to make his eyes water.

"Oh," she whispered sadly before gathering him into her arms.  "It's okay."

He took a deep breath before resting his forehead on her shoulder.  Somehow he felt safe in this moment, as safe as he did with Ladybug.  "Thank you."

"Let's get you home," she said, giving him an extra squeeze before slowly letting go and stepping back.  "Is your bodyguard picking you up?"

He surreptitiously rubbed the moisture away from his eyes as he straightened up.  "Nah." He shook his head. "Father's been letting me walk this year." He blinked in surprise.  He'd spoken properly without really thinking about it. It was a stroke of luck, but he'd learned over the course of today that it wasn't a sign of improvement, so tamped down on the hope that briefly blossomed.

She nodded decisively.  "I'll come with you."

"Don't have to," he said, his words and tone clearly half-hearted. Despite the Messdrien she'd made him, he craved her presence.

Her smile was reassuring.  "I want to." She lifted her little duffel to her shoulder.  "I'm a little worried about you, and I want to be sure you get there okay."

He sighed and nodded, accepting the inevitable trainwreck. She looped her arm around his, and he smiled in delighted surprise.  Regardless what was wrong with him, it was nice to be close, to feel her touch. He stopped himself before he could nuzzle her hair.  Friends didn't do that. And if she was going to make an exception for such a thing for him, there really needed to be some sort of conversation or agreement first.

The day was still lovely and warm, and Marinette managed to engage with him without making him talk much, minimizing his new tendency to stammer and blurt out the worst possible thing.

"If you're ever feeling up to it, I'd love it if you could help me out with physics," she said, effortlessly guiding him across the street.  "I'm just…" She let out a huff. "I'm not terrible at it, and I feel like I'm on the cusp of really understanding it."

"I'd love y-too."  He nodded, blushing at his near declaration of love for her. His mortification didn't prevent his mind from conjuring up cozy images of lounging in her room.  Bonding over physics and eating sweets. Maybe doing that rom-com thing where they could have a tickle fight or a pillow fight, something that would result in them collapsing together in a heap on the cushions.  Oooh. A blanket fort. That'd be even better, and more realistic, to be fair. It would lead perfectly to cuddles. Oh god, cuddles with Mari would be a like a dream, far too good to ever happen to him.

"Through or around?" Marinette's voice pulled him out of his ridiculous daydreams.  Why would she want to cuddle with him? He was a mess, even when he wasn't inarticulate Awkwardrien.

He stared at her a moment, then looked around.  She'd gotten them to the park without him noticing.  Oops. "Uhm…"

"It looks like there's an event going on."  She gestured to the grassy area where a group of people were spread out and doing yo-yo tricks.  "So we could go through and see what it's all about. Or, if you'd prefer less contact with the crowds of Paris, we can go around."

Yo-yo clubs had popped up all over the city in the last few years, Ladybug's weapon launching the toy into a new popularity.  He gestured to the path. "Through." He liked seeing how real yo-yos worked. Despite his many efforts, and an absurd number of youtube videos, he could barely manage to keep a yo-yo going up and down.

"Do you want to watch?" she asked as they approached the group.

He nodded, idly wondering if Ladybug was half as good with a normal yo-yo as she was with her magical one.  He felt Marinette nudge him into a spot where they could see, but wouldn't get hit. An enthusiastic young woman in a Ladybug t-shirt seemed to be running the show, calling out encouragement as she walked around, carrying a box.  She reminded him of a taller, possibly university-aged version of his Princess.

"Oh hey there," she said, navigating around the flying toys with ease.  "Hi, I'm Bridgette."

"Hi," Marinette said.  "Is this a club or a competition or something?"

"A couple of us are members of Lady's Bugs, a competitive team here in Paris, and we're here to raise some interest and recruit new…"  She looked more closely at Marinette. "Oh!" She clapped her hand over her mouth. "Omigosh. You're Marinette. The girl who rescued Chat Noir yesterday."  The last word came out as kind of a breathless squeal, and Adrien was gratified that he wasn't the only one affected by Mari's general awesomeness. He'd commiserate with Bridgette if he were actually capable of speaking.

Marinette's cheeks went pink.  "Oh… uh." She leaned forward and peeked into Bridgette's box.  "Can I try out one of your yo-yos?" She was clearly redirecting the young woman.  Clever and humble, all at the same time.

"Heck yeah," Bridgette said, holding out the box.  "If you'd sign it, I'd be crazy happy, too." She winked, then glanced at Adrien and seemed to shake herself.  " **And** Adrien Agreste?" she whisper screamed.  "How is this my life?" She bounced a little.  "Do you want to try, too?"

Adrien shrugged.  "I'm… terrible."

"You can still try, if you want," Bridgette said, her smile bright.  "The Lady's Bugs don't judge newbies, and I might have a few tips for you."

Marinette met his eyes, and he felt that soothing sensation again.  "You can, if you want. You're allowed to have fun."

He reached into the bin and pulled out a red yo-yo with a classic design before glancing at his Princess.  "You?" It was the best he could manage, without risking word salad.

Marinette grinned and let go of his arm, alas, to select a modern black one.  It was flared at both ends, and narrower where the string ran around the axle, like a sideways hourglass.  She held her hand out, letting the yo-yo drop, her face calculating as she watched it spin at the end of its string.

"Ooooh," Bridgette said happily.  "You know what you're doing, don't you."

Marinette shrugged.  "I know a few tricks, but nothing spectacular."  With a little tug, the yo-yo returned to her hand before she dropped it again.  While it was sleeping, she reached over with her other hand to grab the string.  With a few finger wiggles that he couldn't quite follow, she created a five pointed star of string with a yo-yo dangling off the side.

"Nice," Bridgette said.  "What else do you got?"

"Do you know the Eiffel Tower?" Marinette asked, releasing the string, which somehow detangled and allowed the toy to continue up and down, something that usually didn't work so well for him.  She made the yo-yo sleep, and again wrapped her fingers in the string. When she held out her hands, she had a simplistic string outline of the tower with a yo-yo dangling off one of the bottom supports.

Adrien let his yo-yo bounce gently up and down on its string while he focused on his friend. He'd known her for years.  How had he never heard she had this kind of talent. She really was amazing. At everything. Would it be gauche to create a Marinette Dupain-Cheng fan club?

She made some sort of cat's cradle out of the string, bouncing the yo-yo from side to side. Then it was smoothly leaping back into her hand.  Without any apparent effort, she tossed the black yo-yo down in an arc that brought it up over her extended index fingers, continuing to loop around and land on one string, still spinning.

"Nice!" Bridget crowed.  "Do you compete?"

Marinette snorted.  "Naah. I just use it as a distraction, stress relief when I have artist block."  The yo-yo popped off the string and rolled back up into her hand.

"Again," Adrien requested, staring intently at her hands.  She'd made it look so simple, easier than the picture tricks she'd started with.  Maybe he could pull that one off.

Marinette demonstrated.  "It's called double or nothing."  Swing. Around. Around. Again, the yo-yo landed perfectly on the outermost string.

Yeah.  He could do that.  It was just a bit of physics.  He tossed the yo-yo down at an angle, perhaps harder than necessary.  As expected, the string rolled up over his left index finger, before wrapping around his right and suddenly the trick was going all sorts of wrong.  

"Meep!" he squawked.  He stared down at his hands, palm-to-palm and bound tightly together by the string of a red yo-yo.  He was vaguely aware of Bridgette laughing while he pulled at his hands before realizing there was no way he was getting out of this on his own.  Feeling trapped, panic burst into his chest, making him struggle against the string.

"Adrien, stop," the snap of her command had him stilling instantly. Marinette quickly returned her borrowed yo-yo to the bin before reaching forward to help him.  "You're going to hurt yourself if you do it that way."

As her hands covered his, he suddenly felt both completely calm and far too warm given the weather and his mild exertion.  He emitted the same wheezing whine that had come out of him in class, softer this time.

She squeezed his hands, stepping right into his personal space.  "Ssh," she murmured, her voice too low to be heard in the busy park.  "I've got you, okay? Let me take care of you."

He leaned in and pressed his face into the warmth of her neck, unable to suppress the shudder that ran through him as her fingers brushed against his skin.  Despite the short time he was bound, it had apparently left him fairly sensitive.

Even with him leaning on her, she was able to unwind the yo-yo fairly quickly.  Then her fingertips were running over the little indents. "Do your fingers hurt?"

"Nuh...not now."

She lifted his hands to her lips, giving each one a kiss, and his whole body suddenly went lax, sagging against her.  It only lasted a moment, and fortunately she was strong enough to hold him up. When he finally shifted his balance back and met her eyes, he was surprised by her concern, so clear on her face.

"Are you eating enough?"  She looked him over, one hand pressing against his ribs.

He nodded vigorously.  Researching emigration to China was definitely going on his to-do list tonight.  "Mm fine," he insisted.

She did not look convinced.  "Can you at least tell me what's going on?"  She caught his arm again, directing him back to the path.

Oh yes.  That would certainly go over well.  Telling his sweet friend that he'd just discovered a kink thanks to her, and that he'd really be keen to explore it together was clearly the wrong choice here.  But maybe he could simplify the message and de-creep it a bit. "You can tie me up." Nope. That was definitely skeezy. "In knots," he blurted in an attempt to fix it.  Oh god. Not any better. "I'm all tied up in knots!"

**Author's Note:**

> In keeping with the pattern for this series, a portion of this was written while supervising my girl scout as she ran a cookie booth at a convention. I think there will only be two more of these, just enough to finish what I had planned and wrap it up, as enthusiasm seems to be waning. Also, this one did not come out nearly as funny on the first go, it started moving toward dramatic, and we can't have that.
> 
> Feel free to visit me over on [Tumblr](http://freedom-shamrock.tumblr.com/). If you have constructive feedback or need to discuss an aspect of this story, I've found that sort of thing tends to work better via direct messaging or asks than the comments section here.
> 
> I researched yo-yo tricks for this. The ones I used are [the two-handed star](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw8hyTB6kN0), [Effel Tower, ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--hh59vrW0k), [Boingy boing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syYF_zV0h5g&t=101s), and [Double or nothing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXJxEbR3zaw&t=120s).


End file.
